The Guy's Feels
by cartuneslover17
Summary: Takes place after "The Guy". Josh suspects Anais is starting to regret them becoming friends again. Will their friendship be one-sided, or can he convince her he's not just some boy who believes in Kratok?


**_My first ever Amazing World of Gumball fanfic, and it takes place straight after "The Guy". Sometimes I really do feel bad for Anais, especially since she's a smart girl but really doesn't have any actual friends. The ending of "The Guy" was sort of a kick the dog moment (see TV Tropes to know what that means), mostly because Gumball was being a huge in-your-face dick to Anais about Josh. I took the liberty of making a oneshot that takes place after that. You know, an aftermath that would make fans feel better about what might have happened offscreen in this episode._**

 ** _PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!  
_** _

He knew the moment he pulled out his tape measure, she was already questioning their rekindled friendship. It wasn't that Josh was psychotic or anything, just a believer in conspiracy theories and other strange stuff. Anais' brothers were possibly the strangest things outside books and media.

Still, his rambling about some frog named Kratok ruling in the near future seemed to not enlighten Anais in any way at all. Just a few seconds ago they were by each other's side, grinning with giddiness. It was a feeling that Josh never felt around most people (especially around her brothers). And he just had to screw it up and make her think he was some kind of secret society freak.

Yes, he enjoyed looking up possible secrets of the universe. Yes, he loved to switch the letters of product names and determine some kind of secret code. He especially enthralled in the literature of an _amazing_ world where anything was possible. Something he imagined on a daily basis because things around him were typically boring…

Except Anais. She was the most interesting moment to happen to him. He became her weirdest, unless her brothers were already taking that first place spot.

Once Josh explained plans to make a pod her size, he watched as the younger kid grew dejected. It was almost as if he crushed her hope in some way, and it wasn't until Gumball started rubbing it in her face did it dawn on Josh. She figured something was wrong with him, and he couldn't blame her.

After some bitter rebuttal at Gumball to shut it, Anais simply said to Josh she would seem him later and began to walk away. Not wanting to lose her again just after fixing their friendship, he immediately asked if she wanted to hang out after school for ice cream. He mentally cheered despite she had given him a less than pleasant okay.

School was done, and, as he had hoped, Anais met him at the front doors just as everyone was pouring out. Her brothers were nowhere to be seen, thank goodness. Josh was relieved he could hang out in peace with Anais, without either of those two spying for any "illegal activity" on his part.

That might as well been what Anais was expecting, because the latter hardly said a word as she walked beside Josh. Her pink ears drooped back like dead grass, not in the usually perked up position he remembered from the first time they met. Her expression was unreadable, as if she desired to be anywhere than where she was headed. And who she was headed with. Her eyes focused forward, not even taking a moment to glance at her side nor bat him a lash.

Yup, he was pretty sure she was regretting this…

When they entered the parlor, Josh held the door open for her. She gave him an appreciative smile, but it didn't last, her expression resorting back to dismay. His heart could not have descended anymore, but he still pulled a seat for her first anyway. After they ordered, not even the music blaring from the intercom could break the silence between them.

Josh twiddled his fingers, his eyes shifting from the table they sat at to Anais, whose eyes never left the sight of her own curled fist. She didn't dare look at him, her lip biting over her bottom one, as if she was trying to think of an excuse not to be here.

Suddenly, he started to realize just how hard it must have been for her in this situation: wondering if the whole friendship thing was a lie or loneliness didn't seem so bad after all. Good grief, how the roles have reversed...

"So, um, Anais," he began carefully, although the latter still didn't look up at him, "do you come to this place often?"

"Pretty much," the pink rabbit muttered despondently. "It's where I usually go if I'm having a hard time making friends. Or basically did make friends, but they turn out to be something else. So I wallow in grief and self-hatred here until I'm absorbed in a new belief that opportunity could come again."

Josh wasn't sure if that was a verbal jab at him, or Anais being honest about herself. Well, considering her brothers had tried to catch him "in the act", that should have been the first red flag. Something told him he probably wasn't the first person she approached in hopes of making a friend.

"Speaking of new belief," she spoke with sarcastic nonchalance, "is a possibly photoshopped frog just one of the 'rulers' you worship, or is there a high chance you're probably worshipping big, overrated gems too?"

Okay, now he was pretty sure that was a jab at him…

As his eyes locked on Anais, he could sense hinted callous. Although he only knew her for a few days, he never believed she would be that type of person. Yet with brothers like hers, who could blame her for the attitude shift?

The conspiracy theorist sighed. "Look, Anais, I'm pretty sure I must be freaking you out..."

"You think?" she demanded, her voice raising just above a pitch. "When Gumball and Darwin tried to convince me something was wrong with you, I defended you every single time. I thought I was the problem in this entire situation! And just when we made up, you turn out to be a member of some bogus society!"

"That's what I told my mom!" Josh admitted, throwing his hands up. "How do you think I felt when she told me about this group that praises Kratok?"

Anais folded her arms, giving him a rather questionable look. "Oh, come on, I'm pretty sure you were taught since birth about this stuff."

Josh gave her an unamused expression. "Did your parents ever teach you how to be a genius?"

"Of course not!" she retorted. "I was born great! I became a genius!"

There was a pause. Suddenly, her ears lowered and her cheeks began to heat up as she regarded him curiously.

"Wait...you think I'm a genius?" she asked in a meek tone.

"Isn't obvious?" Josh answered politely.

Already Anais' cheeks were growing hotter, so hot they could melt all the ice cream in the parlor. Which was better said than done as an old man behind their table was about to taste his sundae. It was already sinking into creamy soup in his bowl. The individual gazed down at it with both disgust and disappointment, wondering how that even happened.

"Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?" he asked himself, pulling the collar of his shirt as sweat began to pour down the side of his head.

Neither Anais nor Josh heard him, the former unable to control the grin that grew across her face. Josh offered one in return, blushing mildly with embarrassment.

"Um, no one's really said that me before..." she confessed, trying to suppress a girlish giggle. "Well, unless you count being called that out of malevolence or inevitable jealousy because it's true."

"Well, you are the smartest girl in school," Josh expressed sincerely. "I mean, you're not even 12 and already ahead of your brothers."

She clasped a hand over her mouth, trying not to erupt with even more giggles. Compliments came rarely to her, unless they were brought with a massive dose of sarcasm (usually from Gumball). She nearly forgot that just hours ago she found out Josh was part of some abnormal-thinking group. Before she found out about that, the first time they met, she did find him incredibly nice. And so sweet given he didn't run away from her in terror like everyone else did.

However, her smile disappeared, and fear overcame her.

"Wait..." she began nervously. "You're not just feeding me compliments to persuade me to be part of your Kratok-loving belief society, are you?"

Internally hurt, Josh brushed it aside. "Of course not," he insisted. "I meant what I said."

Anais felt regretful for even asking that. She leaned against her seat, rubbing her fingers together. "Right, I'm sorry...But earlier at the playground, when you were measuring my size for a pod-"

"Force of a habit," Josh admitted. "My mom does it so much that somehow I just end up doing the same too."

She gazed at him hopefully. "So...you're not crazy."

"Crazy for you," he told her teasingly. "Is that going to be a problem?"

This time Anais couldn't stop giggling, and her cheeks were more red than the cherries of patrons' already melting sundaes. Neither of the kids noticed, simply absorbed in each other's company.

Josh grinned, having always enjoyed this side of Anais. When she was calm, sincere, and courteous, it was why he really did cherish their friendship. When she took after her brothers, usually he would just have to grin and bear it. But right now she was the same girl who approached him at the playground. That same fun, silly, cool girl.

After fixing her giggles, Anais regarded him with a pleasant gaze. "So...you're part of some society that worships an amphibian, but you're-"

"Not crazy like my mom and her followers," Josh said. "This is just a family thing and, well, I love my family. Sometimes the things they do just rub on me so much that I end up doing the same."

"Well, that's actually comforting to hear," Anais admitted. "I'm really sorry for my attitude earlier. I really do think you're a good friend, even though you are a little weird."

Josh's cheeks reddened as much as hers, and in the background Larry was screaming as tubs of ice cream began to melt, overflowing the counters in flavored waterfalls.

"Why is it so hot in here?" he screamed before dashing to grab a mop.

"Well, I really, really think you're a good friend," Josh told Anais, having not heard the commotion in the background at all. "Even though you have some weird siblings."

"I get that a lot," she chuckled, fiddling with one of her drooped ears.

"And for the record," he added with a tender smile, "even it wasn't for Kratok and all that stuff, I would still build you a pod. Just to keep you safe in case the world gets attacked by some void or whatever."

"Aww!" Anais cooed, clutching her chest. "That's the sweetest, most absurd thing anyone's ever said to me!"

The heat was unbearable for the parlor. People were slipping on melted ice cream, and Larry was trying to conceal the fire that conveniently erupted from the selection bar.

"How does this even _happen_?" he cried, watching as ice cream literally caught on fire.

Once again, neither of the kids noticed. Anais was too lost in Josh's eyes to even hear the screams of angry and disgusted people over a day of ice cream ruined. She rested her elbows on the table, hands supporting her head in such a manner, it was as if she was admiring a work of art.

"So, since we're really, really friends again..." she began, lowering her eyelids, "tell me, what are your thoughts on marriage?"

"Oh, well, I think it's a nice thing," Josh responded casually.

However, his eyebrows immediately rose after slowly processing her question.

"Wait, _**WHAT?**_ " he exclaimed.

 _ **THE END**_


End file.
